20 
1875. Urocyon cinereo-argentatus, (Schreb.) Coues. Report Geolog. and 
Geogr. Expl. and Surveys West 100dth Meridian, 1875, 56. Jor- 
dan, Man. Vert., 1878, 17, 2d edition. 
Specific Characters—Head and body a little over two feet in length; 
tail rather more than half as long; stiff, with a concealed mane of bristly 
hairs. Prevailing color mixed hoary and black; convexity and base of 
ears, side of neck and edges of belly, and more or less of the outer sur- 
faces of the limbs, rich fulvous or cinamon brown; muzzle banded with 
black, extending on the chin; lower half of head, tip of chin, and sides 
of muzzle at end white; tail hoary on the sides, a stripe above, and the 
tip black; rusty below. 
The Gray Fox is about as large as the Red Fox. The length is about 
twenty-eight inches; tail, to end of vertebre, thirteen to sixteen inches, 
to end of hairs, fourteen to eighteen inches; ears two and a half inches 
high; hind foot five inches; skull four and a half to four and two-thirds 
by two and a third to two and two-thirds inches. 
This fox is not subject to the remarkable variations of color already 
observed in the Red Fox. Different specimens vary in the shade of the 
grizzled grayish back, exact color-pattern of the black and white on the 
head, extent and intensity of the fulvous on the neck, flank and limbs ; 
it is always distinguishable by its colors, however, aside from the differ- 
ences in build, cranium and general appearance. 
The Gray Fox occurs in Oregon, Texas, and California, and with the 
Red extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is not common in New 
Kngland, and only accidental in Maine andCanada. It is more southern 
than the Red Fox, being the prevailing species from Virginia southward. 
Taking naturally to the woodlands, and shunning the plains, there 
are, of course, extensive areas on its ordinary parallels where it may 
never be met, although prevalent on either side of.such treeless regions. 
Coues and Yarrow (Zoél. Expl. W. 100dth Meridian), from whom the 
subsequent note on the comparative habits of the Gray and Red is quoted, 
consider the present species the characteristic fox of Arizona, being 
much more abundant than the Red. 
“Sharing vulpine traits with its kind, the Gray Fox has, nevertheless, 
its peculiarities. It is not a burrowing animal, at least to any great ex- 
tent; and when it digs, the burrow is simple, with a single entrance. It 
lies concealed in rank herbage, beneath or inside fallen logs, under par- 
tially excavated stumps, and similar retreats. This habit is in evident 
correlation. with its woodland range, for; having no such protection as 
the Red Fox, which takes to the earth any where, it is forced to abide 
where there are the natural means of concealment just mentioned. This 
